The Living Beach

With the most tidal shoreline of any state in the continental USA, Florida's beaches are critical habitats for threatened and endangered species. But they are also big business.

From the massive tides of the Bay of Fundy to one of the most harmonious archipelagos in the world, Nova Scotia's coastline is an ever-changing equation between land and sea.

Human "midwives" protect green sea turtle eggs from poachers and predators on the beaches of the Yucatan Peninsula, a place of lush biodiversity.

Throughout the Hawaiian Islands, natural forces of creation and destruction can be observed in real time as they shape the living beach.

Just off the coast of Queensland lies Fraser Island - a complex ecosystem built entirely on sand.

The beaches of California are some of the most beautiful in the world, but are they falling out of balance due to humanity's effect on nature?